Finally added a Bluetooth module to the Columbus unit

As the title says, I've recently managed to find a fair priced BT module, part no. 3C8 035 730 D (the Novero, with the external antenna and the WiFi hotspot capability). The wiring loom was ordered half a year ago and was listed as plug&play. I haven't exactly studied the documentation in detail, I did watch several YouTube clips where people did the same to the similar cars (i.e. Tiguan, Golf, Octavia), however not once have I seen a pure plug&play situation, at least some modifications were required (switching some wires on the quadlock, adding the 12V wire to the BT module, etc). Well, I decided to try and see where I'll get stuck with my setup.

I also decided not to place the cables as the factory setup, since I'll have the BT module out in the open under the passenger seat (steering wheel on the left) (didn't get the mounting plate and plastic cover, or at least the styrofoam enclosure). The wiring loom I got consist of the quadlock, with all the wires and smaller connectors, two different mic inputs (depending on the head-unit type: RCD-31 or RNS-510), genuine Parrot microphone that will go to the ceiling, and the genuine external rectangular antenna.

Long story short, everything worked plug&play, I didn't event had to use VCDS (even though, later on when I did use it, the 77 - Telephone module was not enabled in the CAN Gateway, however, everything was fully working regardless). The main cable to the BT module goes through the central console next to the gearbox and under the passenger seat. The microphone cable goes from the ceiling, following the passenger side A-pillar, under the dash, squeezed the cable under the plastic trims below the door sills. Same applies to the external antenna. Used a lot of fabric tape to fix the wires/cables, some plastic zips and a velcro strip attached to the bottom of the BT module to keep if from moving (which does the job nicely).

What I can do now, how can I use it? The phone in question is HTC U12+, everything is working as expected (I didn't use the option that the car's module takes over the SIM, the call is just being routed from the phone to the car). Since the phone is a dual-sim, I can't select the second SIM as the outgoing call (then again, I have yet to see a head-unit capable of doing that), the maxidot displays the Phone option and all the info (no coding was required), the Phone button/tab now actually has some use on the head-unit, I can use the voice control feature (it is even possible to toggle between the categories: Radio, Map, Navigation, Media, ...), and what surprised me most, regarding the Bluetooth audio streaming, while the YouTube is playing, I can use the forward/back buttons as well as pause, so you can have a nice playlist of music loaded on a YouTube channel, and then simply navigate with the steering wheel buttons ... the channel name is displayed as the artist, the YouTube title as the song title ... no complaints).

The car is now a little more functional, can't believe I've managed to drive it for a little more than 2 years without this ... 😂 (had it in the previous car). The photos follow.

A test run (just to see if everything is all right, before pulling the cables through the car)

Work begins